Machine learning algorithm can't distinguish these lab mini-brains from preemie babies

Brain organoids -- also called mini-brains -- are 3D cellular models that represent aspects of the human brain in the laboratory. Brain organoids help researchers track human development, unravel the molecular events that lead to disease and test new treatments. Brain organoids do not replicate cognitive function, but researchers can check how an organoid's physical structure or gene expression changes over time or as a result of a virus or drug. University of California San Diego researchers have now taken brain organoids one step further, achieving an unprecedented level of neural network activity -- electrical impulses that can be recorded by multi-electrode arrays. Using data from babies born up to three-and-a-half months premature, the team developed an algorithm to predict their age based upon EEG patterns.